On July 26, 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed into law the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to ensure the civil rights of people with disabilities. This legislation established a clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities. On July 26, Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation (PATF) will join in the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the signing of this landmark legislation.
The ADA has expanded opportunities for Americans with disabilities by reducing barriers and changing perceptions, and increasing full participation in community life. However, there is still work to be done.
We believe that full inclusion and empowerment of people with disabilities must also involve
financial empowerment. In our view, the
Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act passed in 2014 is one of the most exciting and empowering pieces of legislation since the ADA.
On this 30th anniversary of the ADA, we at PATF pledge to do our part by furthering financial empowerment for people with disabilities through our programs and through our advocacy.
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In case you haven't heard, in honor of the ADA anniversary, Disability PRIDE Virtual PA is hosting a
month-long celebration with lots of good content. We were thrilled to present on three topics that are important to PATF:
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NDI's Financial Resilience Center Helps People with Disabilities Navigate Financial Challenges of COVID-19
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National Disability Institute (NDI) launched the Financial Resilience Center
to support people with disabilities and their families whose financial situations have been negatively affected by COVID-19. The Center provides trusted, up-to-date information and assistance in the form of free accessible financial health tools, as well as virtual financial coaching and counseling
.
"Financial resilience is the ability to bounce back through difficult times, emerge stronger on the other side and flourish in the 'new normal.'"
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5 Types of Assistive Technology You Didn't Know You Needed Until COVID-19
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As we adjust to our new reality during this pandemic, one thing is certain: technology has pulled us through, yet again.
When the coronavirus started spreading across the world, many people had to learn to do things differently. They had to adapt what they had done in the past in a new way. With the stay-at-home order and schools and businesses closing, means of education changed, work changed, recreation changed, even a trip to the grocery store presented new barriers – for all of us. But adaptation is something that people with disabilities have known about for a very long time.
Adapting is really just a different way to do something. When you have a routine that works for you, it can be hard to change – it can be frustrating and scary to do things differently when you were comfortable in your old ways. For people with disabilities, though, adaptation is often a way of life. In a world that too often has not been designed with varied users in mind, the use of assistive technology has been one solution for individuals with disabilities trying to adapt.
In the last few months, certain devices have emerged as being particularly helpful to people wanting to maintain some independence, quality of life, and a semblance of normalcy during this crisis.
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Lessons We Have Learned from Smart Homes Made Simple - And a New Initiative
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Since we began our first Generic Smart Home Technology Project (funded by Pennsylvania Developmental Disabilities Council) in 2017, we have learned about some of the incredible ways people with disabilities can use smart home tech to increase their independence and autonomy at home.
However, we have found that there are still barriers to fully integrating smart home technology into one's life. Questions arise, such as:
- How to identify the best device for your wants and needs?
- Who to include on a team for support?
- How to choose installation services and providers, and when to "do-it-yourself"?
- Where to turn for maintenance and troubleshooting?
- How to pay for these devices and services?
We are tackling these questions and more in a new booklet we will begin writing this fall, to be completed in summer 2021.
Stay tuned... we'll be looking for input from our community (that's YOU)!
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Do you use smart home technology?
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Please Join Us in Welcoming Our New Board Member
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A. Kay Tyberg
PATF Board Member
Annita Kay Tyberg (Kay) is retired from corporate America where she was employed as office manager, executive secretary and administrative assistant to executives for companies like Texaco Oil, Procter and Gamble, Kraft/General Foods and organizations like Educational Testing Services (ETS), Ball State University and the Boy Scouts of America. Kay taught Jr/Sr High students at the White Plains School for the Deaf for several years.
Kay was born with a severe hearing loss and mainstreamed in the public school carrying a “lunch box” sized hearing aid device in classrooms. As technology improved, her hearing aid(s) were worn behind her ears like today’s devices but in a larger version. In 2008, Kay suffered a three-day residual hearing loss and became profoundly deaf. As a result, she decided to have a cochlear implant.
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PATF Borrower Spotlight: Jessica
"Freedom, Mobility, Gratitude"
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Jessica has ocular myasthenia gravis, among other neurological conditions, which affect her ability to walk and she falls frequently. Previously she was an athlete, regularly running 5k’s, skiing, skating, and mountain climbing. But when she became sick, her life changed dramatically. Even with the support of an aid, simply walking the boardwalk like she used to with her rescued greyhounds wasn’t possible. “It used to bring me so much joy. Now I can’t even walk down the block. I missed it viscerally,” she said.
Jessica wanted a scooter. She chose a four-wheeled model for extra stability and the capacity to travel over grass and handle small bumps. But, without a way to transport it, she would be limited in how she could use it.
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Cents and Sensibility
and Other Financial Education Resources for Remote Learning
Four months into the pandemic, and we are blown away by the interest in our financial education resources.
We have had 217 downloads of
Cents and Sensibility
and 1,065 visitors to
StudyMoney.us
since the beginning of the pandemic. Many of the people who have been downloading and visiting span the country, far beyond Pennsylvania. We have seen downloads from California, Washington, Kentucky, and Connecticut, to name a few. And, we have seen downloads from parents, teachers, vocational rehabilitation counselors, transition coordinators, and even an educator working with the prison population.
While we didn't anticipate the increase in interest, we are thrilled that these materials have been useful to so many people during this time. Keep spreading the word and promoting financial empowerment for people with disabilities!
More Coming This Fall!
Financial Education Webinar Series
This fall, we are launching a monthly series of short webinars on financial education topics for people with disabilities and their advocates. Topics will cover everything from voting to identity theft to credit, budgeting, saving, working, and more. Stay tuned for more information coming in August!
StudyMoney.us Relaunch
We are also working away at a new website for
StudyMoney.us
, the companion to our financial education curriculum,
Cents and Sensibility
. The current website is clunky and outdated. The new design will be fully accessible, interactive and engaging, and updated with the latest information, resources, and new topics and activities to help you learn to manage your finances. Look for an announcement and webinar tour of the new site this fall.
Learn more about PA ABLE
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Smart Home Subscription Fees and the True Cost of "Free" Services
Written by Kirby Smith, Smart Homes Made Simple project consultant, and founder of SunKirb Ideas, LLC
This article is written in response to popular smart home platform
Wink's recent announcement
that they will begin charging a monthly $4.99 fee for their services starting July 27th.
First, a (slightly technical) History of the Universal Hub (e.g., Wink)
Smart home devices that are easy for the average person to install and manage started to become popular in 2014. This was driven by startup companies collaborating with mainstream companies to release affordable, easy to set up equipment and devices for the home. Starting with thermostats, cameras, smart doorbells and lights, the movement has since expanded to include many other home appliances.
Because of the popularity of smart phones and tablets, nearly everyone who purchased smart home products already had a centralized control system they conveniently carried with them. People liked the idea that with their phone they could control their home, answer the door, or change the temperature in their house from anywhere in the world.
The Dilemma: How to Connect a Network of Smart Home Devices
For a person to control a smart home device from anywhere, the device needs three things to work:
- The device must have electronic chips in it to communicate and physically control its function;
- The chips need a way to reach the Internet; and
- There must be a service operating on the Internet to receive and send information and commands to and from the chips in the device. Typically called cloud services.
Back in the early 2000s, manufacturers struggled to find the best way for smart home devices to communicate between one another. We are all familiar with two communication standards used for things like our laptops, tablets, and phones to connect to each other. Their brand names are WiFi and Bluetooth (FYI: WiFi is short for “Wireless Fidelity” which people agreed sounded silly, so it was shorted to WiFi). WiFi and Bluetooth use radio signals that send information around.
The electronic chips that use WiFi can send signals very far, but the chips back in the early 2000s were comparatively large, used a lot of power, gave off a lot of heat, and they were costly. Also, we have all experienced how WiFi signals can drop. Almost every home has a spot where the WiFi stops working.
Bluetooth electronic chips are very small. So small that they can fit in earphones. They use very little power, don’t give off heat, and are very cheap. However, the range of Bluetooth is very short, only about 30 feet and the signal can’t travel through objects like walls and people’s bodies.
ZigBee and Z-Wave Offer a Solution...
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There are lots of ways to make a difference.
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Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation (PATF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1998, that provides education and financing opportunities and advocates for people with disabilities and older Pennsylvanians, helping them to acquire assistive technology devices and services that improve the quality of their lives.
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You Shop, AmazonSmile Gives
United Way
Give to the
United Way
of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey and designate PATF by writing donor choice #13064 in the comment section on the form.
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